Sueverkruepp- CAPS Blog #5

If you were to ask a group 14-year-old girls to create lists of what they believed to be "cool" and "popular" to them, there would likely be a high correlation of answers between their lists.  Answers like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Seventeen magazine, Twilight and the Hunger Games would be found somewhere in the mix of cultural texts to catch the attention of their young consumers.  Popular culture  can be described as "a new name for low culture, referring to those cultural products that most people share and know about, including television, music, videos, and popular magazines." (Martin & Nakayama, 2012)  As I initially read the blog prompt for this particular CAPS assignment, I instantly knew what outlet of popular culture I wanted to analyze for stereotypes.  My husband and I have been, well, addicted to watching the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation.  Since we fall into their 18-34 year-old demographic, it makes a lot of sense especially after reading this chapter that I would find this show so hilarious.  So, without further ado, I will discuss three of the major character stereotypes of the show Parks and Recreation: Leslie "the feminist", Ron "the overly manly man", and April "the lazy intern".

The main character of Leslie Knope is portrayed by the wonderful Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live fame, and makes the often negative stereotype of a feminist look cool.  Leslie is a hardworking and determined woman, who is a strong supporter of woman and government work.  She consideres herself to be the future of Pawnee, Indiana, and eventually the United States.  In her office, she even has framed pictures of influential women in politics, including Hilary Clinton, citing them as her inspiration.  Leslie's relationships with men are nonexistant, unless they possess knowledge of Margaret Thatcher, and have a heart for helping those who are less fortunate.

Leslie's boss in the Parks and Recreation department is Ron Swanson; a middle-aged white Libertarian who has a diet of probably about 80% steak and bacon, and who happens to have (in my personal opinion) the best mustache since Burt Reynolds.  Ron has two ex-wives named Tammy whom he hates, and a strong belief that the government is utterly useless and should be privatized.  His "overly manly man" characteristics are shown through his love of the great outdoors, killing animals, woodworking, eating all meat (except Vegan bacon) and helping the next generation to not be wimps.

(Here you can view Ron's belief on Vegan bacon...)

Finally, the character of April Ludgate is an apathetic college student who works as the office intern (and later assistant to Ron) at the Parks and Recreation department.  She's lazy and sarcastic, and can often be found at her desk either texting or sleeping.  In an early episode, it is revealed that the only reason she received her internship is because she overslept on the day she was supposed to sign up for class.  April is often annoyed by her co-workers, especially Leslie and Jerry.  However, April begins an almost father-daughterly relationship with Ron, where they bond over their hatred for the government. When April eventually becomes Ron's assistant, she excels at preventing others from reaching Ron to help him do as little work as possible.


Marin, J.N. & Nakayam, T.K. (2012). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed).  Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.